As you may have heard, April is “Fair Housing Month.” Oh wait, before I go further, let me say this:

“I am not an attorney. This post should not be construed as legal advice, Please consult an attorney if you do have any questions regarding the information contained in this post.”

Okay, back to the post.

I’m sure we all agree that the passage of Fair Housing laws has been a tremendous force for good in the housing community and in our nation as a whole. As a minority and as a father myself, I’m glad I cannot be discriminated for housing based on my ethnicity or familial status. Equal opportunity in housing is a good thing and should be celebrated.

However, I believe that in our attempts to ensure that our people are educated and act in compliance with Fair Housing laws, we may have also created a culture of fear and paralysis which has, in turn, created walls, obstacles and blocks, within our front line people, to providing good, and even “common sense” customer service.

Equal Opportunity For Good, Not Bad!

I remember being told by someone, whom I was training, that she didn’t offer coffee to any clients out of fear that she would miss someone and be accused of discrimination. When I was the customer care manager of a company in Southern California I received many complaints from people who were denied refunds or credits or other ‘exceptions,’ that actually made good customer service sense, due to “fair housing" concerns.

You know the line right?“If I do it for you, I’ll have to do it for everyone else!” I've noticed that instead of providing equal opportunity to “good” service, many people seemed to use the fear of Fair Housing to provide “bad” service. I understand that this may not be the "intent" and I know that I may be painting with a broad brush here, and that you and your organization may be different. But I still think it a good idea for every organization to take a closer look at the attitudes and actions of their people to ensure that your dedication to providing “Fair Housing” doesn’t equate to “Poor Service" for your customers.

Here are some things that you can do:

Action Items:

• Loosen up the attitude (not the specific training) surrounding Fair Housing training. So often Fair Housing training feels like a law school lecture, with everyone coming out of it glass-eyed, dizzy and knee deep in legal jargon. I know its a serious topic and one that deserves a serious approach, but it's okay to loosen up the general attitude. I think you'll find people will receive the information better as well.
• Reduce the fear: How many times have you heard from associates, fresh from Fair Housing training, who were afraid of talking to anyone? To me, the “big picture” emphasis of Fair Housing training shouldn’t be only on the things to NOT do, but rather on the things people can and should do to create an environment that is welcoming to everyone.
• Provide communication training to your associates: Communication is natural but doing it well doesn’t always come naturally. People need to know how to communicate in ways that are received as respectful and friendly, especially in difficult circumstances.
• ‘Program’ your people through roleplay: By providing your associates with suggestions and opportunities to practice how to approach certain situations, you’ll reduce some of the fear and uncertainty that your people may feel.
• Model welcoming behavior yourself! Do you demonstrate what welcoming and inclusive behavior looks like for your people? Is the office environment that you've created one that encourages warmth and hospitality, or is it an environment that produces fear and paralysis?

The last item is this: Do not hide behind the FAIR HOUSING wall!

I worked in the industry long enough to know that there are times when you won’t be able to make an exception, or grant a request due to Fair Housing regulations or just plain business sense. But, in those times when you can, or might be able to, it is worth it to get out from behind the wall, or better yet, bust through it, to see what you can do to provide the type of service your customers deserve.